Old Photograph Skene House Scotland

Old photograph of Skene House in Aberdeen, Scotland. Provost George Skene lived in the house in the 17th century and is thought to have commissioned the carved plaster ceilings when he made some structural alterations to the building in 1676. In the 18th century, the Duke of Cumberland commandeered the house for his troops on their march north to Culloden. After this, it was known as 'Cumberland House', a name which survived into the 20th century, when the building, which had hitherto housed the famous and wealthy, became a public lodging house for the city's poor. In the 1930s, when adjacent houses in this formerly grand but now very run-down area of the city were demolished, a campaign was launched to save Provost Skene's House and an extensive programme of refurbishment began. In 1953, the house was opened to the public.



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Old Photograph Links Road Lundin Links Fife Scotland

Old photograph of children, the Bremner grocers shop, cottage and houses on Links Road in Lundin Links by Lower Largo, East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The Bremner surname is of Scottish origin which dates back to the early 15th Century. Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Brimner, Bremner, Brymner, etc., Church records include one William, son of Robert and Catherine Bremner, who was christened, at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London, England on December 10th 1736, John Bremner who married Margaret Donaldson at St. Dunstan in the East, London, on September 11th 1763 and Margaret Bremner who was christened in Edinburgh on April 29th 1773. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Brabounare held a tenement in Irvine, which was dated 1418, Documents of the Royal burgh of Irvine, Scotland, during the reign of King James 1 of Scotland.



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Old Photograph Borthwick Hall Scotland

Old photograph of Borthwick Hall, Heriot, Midlothian, Scotland. Dating from 1852, the present house, the site of which was originally a hunting lodge for the Earls of Borthwick, was designed in the Baronial style by John Henderson, who also originated a number of Gothic Churches for the Scottish Episcopal Church. The first owner was the famous Seedsman and Nurseryman Sir Charles Lawson after whom Lawson Cypress was named. He served as Edinburgh’s Lord Provost from 1862 to 1865. From 1872 until 1926 it was owned by David Macfie whose crest may be seen in the Billiard Room fireplace. It was bought in 1926 by the eminent Edinburgh lawyer William Blair.



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Old Photograph Spey Bridge Newtonmore Scotland

Old photograph of the Spey Bridge outside Newtonmore, Scotland. This Scottish bridge was built to carry the A9 across the river Spey in the 1920s. It was one of eight bridges designed by the Engineer Sir Owen Williams and the Architect Maxwell Ayrton.



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Old Photograph Tweed Vineyards Clovenfords Scotland

Old photograph of Tweed Vineyards in Clovenfords near Galashiels, Scottish Borders of Scotland. Tweed Vineyards was created by William Thomson in 1869, choosing Clovenfords, Vine Street, because it had its own railway station, essential for delivering the many tons of coke required to heat the large complex of hothouses and because his brother-in-law was a builder and contractor living in Galashiels. The Tweed Vineyards of Scotland became the creme de la creme of the grapevine producing six tons of Muscat and Gros Colman grapes per year, then delivered by rail as far south as Covent Gardens and Harrods of London. For 90 years the Tweed Vineyards flourished under four generations of the Thomson family until the price of grapes fell dramatically. They sold the business in 1959, to Robert Affleck, a market gardener. Time took its toll and the once famous vineries fell into a state beyond repair.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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